Yes, lasers need to be banned!

I was driving last night and a car pulls up behind me and started to shine the bright green laser into my mirrors and into my eyes. I turned around and they speed off. Later on down the road i encountered them again and once again they continued to shine the laser at me hitting my eyes every now and then. So yes I think lasers should be banned to the general public period

Yes yes yes

Ban private ownership of lasers. They can be used to annoy people and get away with it. DVD burners should be made as hard as possible to take apart so they can be used as lasers. So they are a long range annoyer and should definately be banned all together

There should be a ban

Lasers can be used as weapons, Which will blind police, and you. How would you fell if you where blind because of a laser. Here in the UK, we don't allow guns, but we should not allow lasers, because they can be used for the same purpose, that even children can use one easily

Yes, my son has suffered loss of vision in his left eye

Whilst on holiday in Ayia Napa in July 2013 my son walked out of a nightclub straight into the beam from a holiday reps lazer pen, he suffered the typical blurred vision from looking at the sun or a camera flash at first but woke the following morning and he could see nothing out of that eye ! By the end of his holiday he had blurred vision only and that is how it has remained. How can items that can cause such damage to innocent victims be so readily available for individuals to misuse and how can governments allow such use in crowded environments . My son is only 19 and may never recover full vision in his left eye thanks to that reckless individual.

Laser pointers are simply dangerous.

Lasers are quite simply dangerous in almost any circumstances (especially schools.) They can blind people. if BB guns are banned in most places, why should lasers not be? I do not want to be a victim, nor do I want anybody else to be blinded. when will they be banned?

If they are truly dangerous to aircraft, then a ban should be placed as they are not necessary to society.

The benefits of having laser pointers do not justify the danger to aircraft if they are truly dangerous to pilots and drivers. They could be controlled more because it is not the weapon that makes a criminal but an act that is criminal. This requires more research which I do not have in the way of actual incidents of abuse and death or the means to control such a pointer if necessary.

I am in favor of banning laser pointers because they can cause harmful effects on people's eyes.

Laser pointers are not necessary to any individual and it has been proved that they can cause harmful effects to vision. Further, incidents have occurred where people, usually young people, have intentionally used these laser pointers to shine in people's eyes - in the case of automobile drivers, possibly disabling their vision. Also, on a few occasions they have been used on airplanes, and could have possibly caused a disaster. Finally, they are just very annoying in the hands of someone who just wants to play around.

No, because the government banning laser pointers would be an unenforceable and pointless act that hurts professionals.

The government should not ban laser pointers for three reasons. First, the law would punish professional businessmen and educators who use the laser pointers during demonstrations. These professionals intend no harm, and shouldn't have a tool taken away from them. The second reason is this law would be impossible to enforce. Laser pointers already widely exist, and would continue to be sold. It makes little sense for the government to spend money attempting to regulate something so typically harmless. The third reason is that our government should seek to allow people as much freedom as possible, and banning a technology that would still be used in other forms, like laser levels, is hardly a way for the government to give people their freedom of choice.

If you don't point a laser at your eye it won't hurt you!

Yes, people use them to hurt people but that is a flaw in the person not a flaw in the device. People intentionally kill other people with cars but you don't want those banned do you? Plus you have to consider laser dot sites on guns. Without them the military and police would suffer. I can't believe this is an actual debate!

It is useful

Another reason why lasers are good because when a teacher needs to show something on the board or somewhere they can use a laser to point to the object or thing to show the class.I think lasers should not be banned because according to the bbc a woman was the first person from preston who tried the keyhole laser surgery and she said it was ok. This shows that lasers can be used for good reasons as well.

The problem is not the availability of lasers.

The problem is the propensity of a few people to abuse the tools they have to the detriment of others.

It's the same argument as gun bans: prohibition never works, and criminals (and idiots) will always get what they want. Law-abiding citizens are denied access yet criminals will continue to do what they do.

Laser pointers are extremely important and are mainly used for good puporses by most laser pointer users.

If laser pointers were to be banned portable mirrors would have to be banned because a person can reflect sunlight off of a mirror into a driver's eyes and sunlight reflected off of a mirror is brighter than regular sunlight because it's narrowed in. So a serious accident can occur from a person with a mirror just like a laser pointer. People with pocket knives are more common criminals who commit crimes with them than laser pointer owners. Some people are becoming discouraged to missue laser pointer because of the news they heard of about sentences for laser pointer misuers.

No, no more than on surgical lasers or welding lasers.

Laser pointers are only a danger when pointed into the eyes of another person. Proper use of laser pointers poses no danger. If we are to ban things on the potential and seriousness of harm to others, we should ban cars since thousands die in accidents every year. And if laser pointers are to be banned for fear of lasers, laser welding, surgical lasers and laser cutters should also be banned. Since those tools are not banned, we shouldn't ban their safer kin, the pointer. We should only punish those who use laser pointers to cause harm to others.

I think that laser pointers are toys and pose no real threat to society.

Laser pointers could potentially be dangerous if used in a neighborhood where people actually have laser accuracy weapons. I see no threat to owning them. Perhaps they could be dangerous on the road, if someone points them in a driver's eye, flashlights could do the same thing and we do not ban them. Realistically, I doubt that most laser pointer owners are using them for more than something for entertaining their cats.

Laser pointers do not pose a great threat to society and, therefore, the government has no right to ban them.

Laser pointers can be abused, but they also serve useful purposes. Even when abused, laser pointers are mostly annoying, rather than a serious threat. Thus, the government has no right to ban them. Furthermore, if a laser pointer is abused, then the operator should be punished as an individual, rather than remove the rights of all laser pointer owners.

They should not be banned, but regulated, and misuse should be fined or punished.

Laser pointers are like any other tool: great when you use it properly, but possibly dangerous and malicious when used improperly. The best way to get the best of both worlds is to regulate laser pointers, and punish offenders misusing them with steep fines and serious punishments to deter further usage.

What harm can laser pointers do that would warrant a government ban on them?

While they are used from time to time in ways that can be dangerous or detrimental to society, laser pointers are mostly used for good purposes. The majority of their purpose is in schooling and other educational pursuits, to help people point things out to students and other learners. The fact that some hoodlums use them for bad purposes should not cause them to be banned worldwide and eliminate the possibility of their use for good purposes.

Governments should not oppose a ban on laser pointers, because such bans typically fail to accomplish their goals.

Governments should not place a ban on laser pointers. Such bans very rarely accomplish their goals, as people who wish to harm someone will find other means to accomplish their goal. People who are careless will find something else to be careless with, and harm people that way. The government is not the citizens' babysitter, and we all must accept that there is inherently some risk involved with living in a modern world.